Trace-carrier



(N0 MOdGl.) I

E. A. COTHAM 85 G. WELLS. TRACE CARRIER.

N0. 5'78,9"71. Patented Mar. 16, 1897.

ATTORNE STATES EDWARD A. COTHAM AND GEORGE WELLS, OF MONTIOELLO, ARKANSAS.

TRACE-CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,971, dated March 16, 1897. Application filed July 7,1896. gerial No. 598,300. (llo model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, EDWARD A. COTHAM and GEORGE WELLS, of Monticello, in the county of Drew and State of Arkansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Buckles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of our invention is to provide a buckle especially adapted for use upon'the back-band of a harness and to construct the said buckle in a simple, durable, and economic manner.

A further object of the invention is to locate on the buckle a safety-snap or its equivalent adapted to be attached to the trace, the said snap or its equivalent employed having a swivel connection with the buckle, so as to prevent chafing or rubbing the sides of the horse. 7

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved buckle. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the same, taken at a point near the center. Fig. 3 is a plan View of a modified form of the buckle. Fig. 4c is a vertical section through the form of the buckle shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the buckle, in which a substitute is shown for the spring and for the snap.

In carrying out the invention the body of the buckle'A is preferably made of a fiat piece of metal, and ordinarily the body is of greater length than width. A cross-bar 15 is formed near the rear end of the buckle extending substantially from side to side of the body, and this cross-bar is provided with a convexed upper and a concaved lower face, as is best shown in Figs. 2 and 4, while at one side of the said cross-bar a slot 12 is produced, and at the opposite side a second and parallel slot 13 is formed, the edge of the bar, which practically forms a wall of the inner slot 13, being provided with a predetermined number of downwardly-extending teeth 16. The ends 14 of the said cross-bar are closed,

as shown best in Fig. 5, and a rod 17 is pivoted in the aforesaid end portions of the crossbar beneath the crown of the same, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4. At the rear end of the body of the buckle a transverse slot 11 is preferably made.

Between the rear slot 11 and the cross-bar 15 of the body of the buckle a snap 18 is pivoted through the medium of a pin or post 19, which passes through the forward end of the shank of the snap and is secured to the body A in any approved manner, the said snap being adapted to receive the trace of aharness, to which the buckle is applied. Instead of the snap 18 a spring 20 may be substituted therefor, (shown in Figs. 3 and 4,) and this spring is pivotally attached to the body-plate at its forward end by means of a post or pin 21 and is provided with a hook 23 at its rear end for connection with the trace. The spring 20 is especially applied to the buckles used upon plow-harness and is capable of sliding motion on its pivot as well as a rotary motion, whereas the snap 18 is held against movement to and from the body-plate through the medium of a collar 24.

In Fig. 5 we have illustrated a buckle much narrower than that shown in Figs. 1 and 3,

the narrow buckle being provided at its rear central portion with a tongue bent upward and over the upper face of the body of the buckle to form a hook 25, and this hook may be attached directly to the trace. In some instances the buckle shown in Fig. 5 is to be preferred. 1

Under the foregoing forms of back-band buckles clamping-sections independent of the body or pivoted thereon are dispensed with, and the adjustmentof the back-band, or any strap to which the buckle is applied, may be expeditiously and conveniently made. As heretofore stated, the movement of the spring 20 to and from the body of the buckle is especially desirable in plowing, and particularly when the plow strikes a root or grub in the ground. The spring also helps to regulate the plow and make it run smoother, and the downward movement of the spring will lessen the pressure on the horses back.

In operation the back-band B is passed downward through the forward slot 12, thence over the cylindrical or convexed surface of the cross-bar l5 downward to an engagement with the teeth of the cross-bar, and thence beneath the cross-bar and over the rod Within the same, and the back-band is then carried from the said rod downward through the innor slot 13 along the back of the buckle and out through the rear slot 11 when the said slot is employed.

It is obvious that a quick adjustment of the buckle on the band may be made and that wherever the buckle is placed as soon as tension is brought to bear on the band the buckle will be firmly held in said adjusted position.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A buckle comprising a body-plate having an arched cross-bar, a slot at each side of the cross-bar, teeth formed at the edge of the cross-bar, and a rod extending longitudinally beneath the said crossbar, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A buckle particularly adapted as a backband buckle, consisting of a plate provided with a cross-bar extending from side to side, the said cross-bar being upwardly arched, its outer face being convexed and its inner surface concaved, its ends being substantially closed, the buckle being furthermore provided 5 having a tooth at one edge and a rod extending longitudinally beneath the cross-bar and through the concavity thereof, whereby a strap may pass over the cross-bar past the edge having the tooth and around the rod, substantially as described.

EDWARD COTHAM. GEORGE WELLS.

Witnesses:

(l. T. HARRIS, E. R. COTHAM. 

